Pikmin: The Ancient Beast War
by Ghost Duck
Summary: A story that tells how the Pikmin came to be, and how they lived before Olimar came. Chapter 11 is here! Reviews are greatly appreciated...
1. Chapter 1: The Journal

Chronological Years After Earth's Creation: 350 Million  
Chronological Years After First Pikmin Birth: N/A  
Chronological Years After Halo Construction: 12  
Chronological Years After Halo Activation: 0  
Journal Entry: 000000001  
Journal Password: 8987658

_  
**It has been 2 ½ months since my 6 brothers and I have left from our past homes. I wonder if the Forerunners saved the ring worlds they build for us. I wonder if my brothers are still alive… I know they all made it to the life pods, but I only saw Omega and Delta launch. The others must have launched too. I feel they did. They must have. I should probably review what happened.  
It was like any other day training on Halo, when one of my masters explained to me I had a new mission. I was to meet up with my 6 brothers for the first time after our creation (6 Months). We were to enter the birthplace of some creature called "Flood". **_

_**  
These infidels had set up a base on the ARK, and it was our job to annihilate, eliminate, and disintegrate these creatures by any means necessary. We had been born on the ARK so we knew it was imperative that all of our powerful Forerunner technology there remained in our hands. **_

_**  
The masters also claimed it had an activator that could mean an end to all life was on the ARK. The 7 of us neutralized 89 of all "Flood" on the ARK, but some escaped. We alerted the Forerunner ships outside the space station, and they captured 4 of the 9 life pods. While on board the ARK, the Forerunners told us that the ships that captured the Flood had nowhere to release the Flood EXCEPT on Halos 001-007.  
By searching the databanks on the ARK, we learned that the Flood are hazardous, life-devouring parasites. We also learned they were going to the 5 most populated, least advanced planets within range for their stolen life pods. **_

_**  
We waited for several hours until we were hailed by the Forerunners. We were instructed to meet them at he LZ of the instillation in 30 units. Once there, each of us was given a small storage cube, a life pod mini ship, and new, final mission.**_

_**  
All 7 of us had just gotten into the life ships when an unknown amount of Flood creatures attacked. **_

_**  
I was first to my life ship when the Masters told us to escape. The others got in quickly as well, but I couldn't tell if some monsters accompanied them inside.**_

_**One master threw me a small bag of seeds and a remote before the Flood consumed him. I instantly closed the door and launched the ship using the auto launch button. The last thing I saw before the pod door closed was Omega's and Delta's pods launch.**_


	2. Chapter 2: The Journal Part 2

Chronological Years After Earth's Creation: 350 Million  
Chronological Years After First Pikmin Birth: N/A  
Chronological Years After Halo Construction: 12  
Chronological Years After Halo Activation: 0  
Journal Entry: 000000002  
Journal Password: 8987658

_**It has been awhile since I updated this journal. Recently, I linked this pod with its command ship, and, to my surprise, inside were some personal items from training, clothes, food, and a large bed. I realize that my brothers have also escaped; because when I reached the cockpit I had signals from 6 other ships like mine, and 2 signals from unknown ships.**_

_**I could tell the ships had belonged to our masters, but knew the Flood had taken control of them even before we hailed them over our private COM channel. My brothers and I quickly dispensed of them in a dogfight with our command ship's plasma cannons.**_

**_I can't help wondering what these items are that the master gave me… They don't seem to have any purpose. These seeds may be helpful, however. There are fifteen seeds. I wonder what would happen _if I planted them…**

_**Theta suggested via holo-conference that we all land on random planets and try to find a new, suitable place to live in the event of a Flood takeover. Beta said we should go back to Halo, and I said that because my ship had a larger databank and COM relay that all the others, I would contact command.**_

_**Forerunner command listened to my story, and told me to commence with Theta's plan. They also gave me a combination to enter on my ship's mainframe so I could get the blueprints to a Genetic Generation Machine, Dimensional Control Remote and Dimensional Control Gate. I immediately sent this information to my brothers. Then privately, they told me to use the mystery remote to contact my teacher, 343 Guilty Spark, and give him a special message. And finally, they told me to activate security protocol Triple Seven, which means to delete all information on Forerunner Command and cease all contact unless otherwise designated. The only contact designated that was allowed was my final transmission to 343 Guilty Spark.**_

:Pause Journal Entry:

"**_Greetings Alpha" Guilty Spark said in his collected, mechanical voice._**

"**_Greetings," I responded, "I was just instructed by Forerunner command to give you a message; Activate The Cleansing Lights."_**

"**_Oh… I see..." Guilty Spark sounded somewhat upset and somewhat happy at same time. My mentor and friend then said to me, "Thank you for your support and cooperation, Alpha." He then deactivated the com channel without a another word._**

:Begin Journal Entry:

_**After my chat with 343 Guilty Spark, I went to the cockpit and told my brothers the plan. Then all of us launched in different directions several minutes later. However, before I launched, a blinding blue light caused the ship's power to die for a minute. I felt a tingling sensation, but it soon wore off and I jumped to some random coordinates.**_

_**The sight of this new world was amazing. It was covered in much vegetation and land, but it also had large oceans and lakes on it, too.**_

_**This planet was almost as beautiful as my Halo, Instillation 04, which is probably the reason I was distracted when the meteor hit my ship.**_

_**I then felt a large bump that must have been part of my ship coming off. Instinctively, I checked my ship's hull damage, and surprisingly found it had been barely damaged. The only damage problem was that it had caused a hole to appear over my bedroom. By the time I patched the hole, however, the onion-shaped seeds were gone.**_

_**As sentimental as those seeds were, I knew that I had a mission. I would search space for them later. My duty at the moment was to the race my brothers and I had just found out we belonged to. Now, I will land on this planet, and build the device that would keep the newly founded Duckonian race alive for centuries to come.**_

**Author's Note**

There are several things about this story I'd like to point out.

The actual Pikmin part of the story will start either next chapter or the chapter after that.

Just because it says,

"**_Chronological Years After Earth's Creation: 350 Million"_**

doesn't necessarily mean this planet is Earth. That is merely a thing I added in to some relevant time show time. ( I will fix the date in the last one too)

Thanks to all my awesome reviewers. You will all be added in soon!


	3. Chapter 3: Analysis

Chronological Years After Earth's Creation: 350 Million  
Chronological Years After First Pikmin Birth: N/A  
Chronological Years After Halo Construction: 12  
Chronological Years After Halo Activation: 0  
Journal Entry: 000000003  
Journal Password: 8987658

_**I finally am going to get the chance to study my new home which I have decided to call X. This planet is quite spacious, and appears to have many forest areas. This is good, because some of those trees must be fruit bearing so I won't have to worry about running out of food, but odd at the same time, as the trees are a hundred times larger that those on Instillation 04! Maybe this is because the soil is extremely fertile. I'd love to go down to the planet's surface now, but that would result in violation of the Centari protocol, which clearly states that unknown planets must first be analyzed. I'll ask Forerunner Command. Still no go ahead… Lets see if I can get some facts about Planet X from my ship's sensors: **_

_**Atmosphere: **_

_**30 Percent Oxygen**_

_**38 Percent Carbon Dioxide**_

_**32 Percent Nitronic Cartoline**_

_**Distances/Weight:**_

_**Diameter: 289 million kilometers **_

**_Mass: 973 quintillion tons _**

_**This is becoming boring. I believe I should go to the planet's surface for further study. I will head for Planet X's surface now.**_

_**Good thing I checked Planet X's atmosphere before I launched. If I didn't, I might not have been prepared for the lethal amounts of Nitronic Cartoline in its atmosphere. Nitronic Cartoline is toxic to the gene that allows me to live and it would disband that gene if I inhale it. I'm trained and ready to work in my custom space suit, as It is extremely comfortable and easy to use, but I still have a odd sense of unease… Oh well, I'm sure they will be gone by tomorrow. I can't wait until start my mission, but for now I must rest.**_


	4. Chapter 4: Rough Landing

Chronological Years After Earth's Creation: 350 Million  
Chronological Years After First Pikmin Birth: N/A  
Chronological Years After Halo Construction: 12  
Chronological Years After Halo Activation: 0  
Journal Entry: 000000004  
Journal Password: 8987658

Landing on this planet won't be very difficult, as the gravity is somewhat weak, and therefore won't impose on the ship's hull very much. I have just suited up, and now I am ready for landing. I wonder what I will encounter on this planet that my sensors didn't pick up. I hope that there won't be any surprise creatures that weren't detected and my new field guide that my ship's AI made for me won't become obsolete. I must stop writing now to pilot my ship. 

**_: End Journal Entry:_**

"I knew that I would have to be precise when I landed on Planet X's surface the first time, but I didn't know that I would have to dodge wormhole after wormhole to get there." I said as I piloted my ship through this planet's unstable atmosphere.

Odd every day items were being shot out of the wormhole every few seconds, and a large frying pan had just demolished my Guardian Shield Generator.

"Whoops, forgot to put my journal away!" I say innocently as my ship, named Gladiator, plummets towards Planet X. In this moment of distraction, in the corner of my eye I see what looks like my communicator, only much larger, and with the alien words $oN3y 3r!C$$0n Printed at the top appear next to a colossal globe. I activate the Gladiator's plasma beam and sliced the phone and globe in half before they could damage my ship, however, at this moment, a giant rubber duck my ship and forced my head to collide with my helmet, causing me black out.

When I awoke I was on Planet X, but my ship was nowhere to be seen. I stood, up, and checked my environment. I appeared to be on a colossal tree stump! I immediately swiveled around turned around and saw the Gladiator with the front crushed in. It didn't look flyable. I then decided to look for something that I may use to escape; my engine.

After a half-hour of searching, I found something that looked like a large, dark, tanned onion. I went up and touched it, despite my better instincts, and a large flower appeared on top and the Onion immediately turned to an odd, gleaming gold color. The flower had just begun to spin, when my heightened senses kicked in. I leaped backwards and landed just as the Onion shot out of the ground and three large wooden legs protruded from its sides and acted as support beams****

As if this first encounter couldn't be any odder, a singe small gold seed shot out of the flower on top of the onion, arced across the sky for a moment, its small leaf acting as a drag fin, and fell to the earth, instantly planting itself.

I stared in awe for a moment, prepared for anything, when suddenly a collection of light gathered at where the seed had been planted, and a large golden sprout with a leaf on top grew out of the soil. It feels as though the seed is calling to me, and it is begging me to pluck it… I reach and grab the golden stalk tightly with both hand and pull.

AUTHOR'S NOTE-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

I finally get to introduce the Pikmin! And also, other than fixing the original damage to the ship, there will be NO part hunting like in Pikmin 1. Thanks to all my reviewers, you guys (and girls) rock!


	5. Chapter 5: Gold Pikmin

The creature that landed behind made a coo as I looked at it in bewilderment. It certainly didn't look like any of the monsters the Gladiator had detected and named The creature had a humanoid form, and a plant stem with leaf on top. The small plant/animal hybrid had no hair, two small eyes, gold hued skin, similar to that of its Onion and four small fingers and toes on each limb. The instant after seeing it, for some reason, I thought a good name for this creature would be Pikmin. Min because they were two feet smaller than me and pik because the small beast had to be picked. I also decided to spell Pikmin like p-i-k-m-i-n instead of p-i-c-k-m-i-n because pickmin seemed to long.

Turning my concentration back to the small creature, I noticed it was no longer in sight. I spun around and looked for it, and saw the lone Pikmin smashing what my ship named a pellet flower. The pellet flower looked more posy-like than flower like. I ran over to the Gold Pikmin and saw the pellet posy it was whacking with its leaf burst open, causing a spray of nectar to squirt out and all over the Gold Pikmin.

"Now your all covered in goo!" I said in an exasperated tone. Then I immediately thought of something, and asked the Pikmin its opinion. "Goo…wait, that's actually a good name for you, little Pikmin! Do you like it?"

To my shock the, small Pikmin answered, "Yes, that's fine."

"Wait… you can talk?" I asked Goo.

"Yes, every first born Pikmin can. You should know. You created the Onions." Goo responded.

"Well, how do you increase your numbers?" I inquired. "I don't think one Pikmin will be enough to find the two ship parts I need to get out of here and lift my ship into it's launch position." Goo responded by lifting the red pellet from the spot where it landed and carried it under the Gold Onion. Several seconds later, two more Pikmin seeds shot out of the flower on the onion and planted themselves like Goo did. I then heard an odd noise coming from where Goo was standing, and I spun around and saw a flower had appeared where his leaf was a moment ago.

"That was the sweetest nectar I've ever had…" Goo said in a daze.

I ponder what has just happened, come up with an answer in 0.68 seconds, and finally tell my first Pikmin what I thought of. "I think that when you consume that nectar though your skin, you mature. Interesting..." Before Goo could comment, however, the two other Pikmin seeds sprouted out of the soil. I promptly walked over and plucked them.

"Goo, much can each gold Pikmin lift?" I inquired.

"Each Pikmin can lift twice their weight." Goo replied.

Quickly doing the math and checking how muck the parts that were missing weighted, I asked, "How many long would it take to raise twenty-five Pikmin?"

"Not long. Follow me." Goo said enthusiastically. I quickly plucked the two sprouts behind me and set off next to Goo. As we walked to the clearing up ahead, I saw my ship's second most important lost part, its rear fin. I also saw several Pellet Posies and a few creatures the Gladiator named Dwarf Red Bulborbs. It is amazing how much they looked like Bulborbs. That must be my ship's mindlink feature at work. It links with my mind and produces a name for a creature I have never even seen. Quite complicated, yet effective. At this moment, I turned my attention back to the battle at hand. Analyzing Goo's weight and the baby bulborb's weak point, I give my orders to Goo immediately.

"Goo, come over here. I need to throw you on top of that dwarf bulborb." I said urgently. Goo dashes over to me as the bulborb picks up our sent. The other two Pikmin rush over to me while I throw Goo flat on the monster's head. It dies with a loud cry. I order Goo and his small squad to pick it up and bring the corpse back to the Onion. Before the small group of Pikmin hoist the corpse into the air, each grab a toe claw off the Dwarf Red Bulborb's body. One of the two Gold leaf Pikmin uses it's toe-claw to skin out three belt and holsters for him and his brothers.

Goo and his small squad had just hoisted the creature's cadaver into to air and walked four steps when they stopped. I sensed the incoming of the attack before it happened.

An Exposing Snichbug flew down from the sky and made a grab for my communication antenna. Thankfully, my hyperactive advanced combat training allowed me to doge this attack with ease. The Snichbug spun around towards me and charged one last time before Goo and his fellows killed it by jumping and slashing off its wings and hands with five precise cuts. Helpless, the bug flopped around a little bit with its stump legs and finally died several moments later. I went over and lifted the bug body off the ground with ease. Goo and his fellow newly proclaimed Death Agents (that is what I decided to call his little band of warriors) walked back over to the bug corpse and lifted it up once more. We all then walked back over to the camp and back to the Onion. The two corpses produced a total of ten seeds. Those made my small army have a total of thirteen troops now. I would now only need twelve more troops to lift my ship right side up and bring my fin back. After plucking the ten new recruits, we all headed back to the clearing.

A quarter of an hour had passed, and thirty-six more Pikmin had been born. No Pikmin had been killed and all forty-nine Pikmin were lifting my ship's fin from its resting spot. Several moments later, the Gladiator's fin was next to my ship. I assigned all forty-nine of my Pikmin to go to the rear of my ship to grab it when it came up. I went to the front of the Gladiator and began to lift it up. The ship's AI contacted me for the first time since the crash.

"Processing… complete. Are you alright, master Alpha?" the Gladiator AI asked me.

"Yes, I'm fine AI, but your not." I responded.

"Analyzing… These creatures you found, will they be able to lift me?"

I didn't respond to that, but instead I pushed the ship upright. The Gladiator was silent as it sucked the fin in through it's microdrive. As I saw the fin reconstruct itself I noticed it was getting dark. I then told the Gold troop they were dismissed. Assuming the Pikmin would go in their Onion later, I was surprised when Goo told his forty-eight brothers in the Pikmin language to go inside the Onion. I decide I would ponder and document this tonight, as with all the other Pikmin information I discovered this day. I pressed a button on my wrist control and was beamed aboard the Gladiator for take off. Several moments later, I shot off into space.

Day 00001

Pikmin Grown: 49

Total Grown: 49

Pikmin Lost: 0

Total Lost: 0

**_: Author's Note :_**

Another update! Took me long enough. Anyway, it will be 2-4 days until all other reviewers (wildcat6) will be added in (In the story days, not real days). Thanks to all my reviewers again! Also, I'll be real busy this week, so it might take a while to update.

GD


	6. Chapter 6: Morning Surprises

**Author's Note**

**I wanted to say this last chapter, but I spaced it so I'll say it now.**

**MOST OF THE STORY WILL BE IN ALPHA'S PRESPECTIVE**

**Thank you for your time!**

**

* * *

**

I woke up and looked around. Dazed, I blinked several times and then had an instant recollection of what had happened. I had crashed on a planet during my first attempt at a landing ad had been knocked out. I then awoke and discovered two main parts were missing: the rear fin and the Power Stabilizer. I then found an odd creature that I named Goo, who was the first of many Gold Pikmin I grew that day. With my army of Pikmin I found my engine and repaired the Gladiator, finally launching into a peaceful low orbit around Planet X.

Checking my ship's internal clock, it was the standard 3 o' clock, the exact time I got up for training on Instillation 04. Old habits die-hard I suppose.

Finally deciding to do something, I got up from the keyboard. Looking at the monitor, I saw a flurry of Pikmin notes and sketches. This is good. It means I didn't cork off all night. I walked to the cockpit of the Gladiator, and found on the radar screen an anomaly. There appeared to be a large ship orbiting Planet X with the Gladiator.

"Computer, lock on to the foreign ship with camera 2." I ordered. Two seconds later, the cockpit display lit up revealing the Gold Onion. The only reason the Pikmin followed me was probably because they weren't very strong without a leader and would fall to nocturnal predators in the night. I made a mental note of this, and set in the coordinates of the old landing site.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a clear day as I landed in the brisk morning fog. The Onion landed directly across form my ship. I walked over. I wonder how I can get the Pikmin to come out…

Perhaps shouting out the number will work.

"FOURTY-NINE!" I yell out beneath the Onion. I hear the Pikmin sliding down the onion's legs. I walk away and notice things became somewhat brighter. I then realize that an odd, gold light emanates from the bottom of the Onion. Judging by the start of this day, I will learn a lot about the Pikmin. More importantly, however, I will search for Power Stabilizer. That Part will ensure safety in electronics my ship, meaning I can take this colossal helmet off. What a relief…

Goo was the first Pikmin to great me at the bottom of the Onion. His fellow Death Agents were next, followed by the rest of the army. Goo walked over to me. He seemed well rested.

'Sleep well?" Goo asked jokingly. He must have noticed my fatigue.

"Actually yes." I responded.

"So… what kinds of bugs are we going to squish today?"

"Does it matter what kind?" I asked, not actually knowing myself. Silence followed. Deciding to break that silence, I stared the day's briefing.

"Anyway, last night I detected an underground cavern that has given off an appallingly large amount of metals and magnetic ore signals inside. The missing part of my ship should be there, as it is made out of one of the thirty-two compounds detected in there. My ship, the Gladiator, will dispatch its research pod to come with us and take the metals and ship parts we find out."

Goo seemed to be digesting this information, when another Pikmin asked me a question in their strange language. Goo restated the question in an easy to understand tongue, my own.

"He asked what if we should fail?" Goo restated.

"Then the survivors and I shall be brought out of the cave in the research pod." I answer in a matter-a-fact tone.

"What if we find a new breed of Pikmin?" The original Gold Pikmin asks me.

"A new breed? You mean to say there are more than just Gold Pikmin?" I inquire, dumbfounded.

"That's right. There are many other kinds of Pikmin, Two or more of which, I believe, were caught in those odd objects that fell to the planet out of those big holes in space." Goo said. I wonder how he knows all this. I'll ask him how he knows later.

I couldn't believe this. How many colors could there be then? A hundred? A thousand? Moreover, why did the masters "create" these vegetable creatures?

"Let's go." I instruct, deciding to drop the subject. The more Pikmin, the better the chance one breed might rebel and lose its loyalty.

**------------------------------------The Outside of the Cave-------------------------------------**

As we walked through the woods, it was very peaceful. The morning fog was illuminated by the twilight of this planet's sun. So caught up in this world's morning serene, something occurred to me; there had not been a sound all morning, other than warming hum of the Gladiator's turbo sub light-drive engines powering down upon landing, ten mere minutes ago.

I then heard a rustle to the left. I gave the hand signal to freeze, and all of my soldiers froze as well. Several seconds later, it appeared all was fine, but as I was about to give the signal to move, I heard a twig snap above me, and I immediately used my combat training to dodge this beast's attack. This creature is a weird, large caterpillar-like monster with a hard, red exoskeleton and many legs. My mindlink has given it a fitting name: the Carnivorous Wiskerpiller (CW).

I give the Pikmin the order to attack the beast, and I notice their attacks do not damage the beast, but rater hold its legs down, preventing the beast from moving. The CW then shakes the Pikmin off its legs, and to my surprise, then launches a purple berry out of his tail to its mouth and small whiskers, which it uses as "arms" and uses them to eat the berry. The CW then alarmingly sprays a gray, rocky spray on my Pikmin, causing most of them (twenty-nine to be exact) to be frozen into statues.

This Bitter Spray is quite powerful, and now I know I must find a sample of these berries so I may make some myself, but for now I must crush this creature. "Goo," I yell out, "Aim for its tail! It may be its only weak point!" We both split up our troops evenly and charged.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

With the combined force of twenty-eight Pikmin smashing away at its tail, the CW's tail exploded, and its head followed soon after. Since we weren't too far from base, I ordered ten Pikmin to carry the corpse back to the Onion, and to my surprise, only two Pikmin sprouted. I immediately activated my com link with the Gladiator, and told the AI to input the information into my Pikmin Archive of Information, also known as the Piktionary. After this, my ship made an unexpected request.

"Commander Alpha, may I stay in the com channel that you are currently using? For field research purposes only, if not?" This was an unusual request for an AI, as they mostly keep to themselves.

"I suppose, as long as you don't get in the way." I answered. As most AI's are only interested in keeping their ship in tip top condition, creating new codes that speed up the ship's abilities, and gaining more information from the battle network, I'm thankful to have one that is not completely self-absorbed with me during my exile. No one spoke as we entered the cave.

**End Of Chapter Stats:**

**Pikmin Grown: 2**

**Pikmin Lost: 0**

**Items Found: 0**

**Author's Note:**

**_Sorry for not updating for so long! I've not been able to work on it here at my dad's house, I've been busy with school, and I've been busy with the competition at Please visit it if you have the spare time!_**

**GD**


	7. Chapter 7: Dark Dungeon, Floor 1

Dark Dungeon, Sublevel 1 

As we began our descent into the cave, I noticed something. The Gold Pikmin's stems gave of an illuminating glow, which only became brighter as we descended down the tunnel wall.

After climbing for what seemed like forever, we reached the bottom of the shaft, and jump down several stories before we land on the cave floor. The dark, circular cave, not to my surprise, is instantly illuminated as the Golds land. I see a wall behind us that appears burnt and cracked slightly. Goo doesn't seem very surprised, but the Gladiator's Pod does.

As if on queue, the pod blurted out, "Alpha, look at the gold Pikmin! An unidentified substance in their bodies is causing them to glow at approximately 45 Lumens per.-"

"Pod, we don't need to know this instant. Thank you for your excellent observational skills though. Save this info in a Pikmin Type and Ability folder that I will review later on tonight." I reply harshly. His instantaneous interruption de-railed my train of thought.

Goo, surprisingly quiet for most of the trip, finally spoke up and asked a question that appeared to be on everyone's mid, "So where are we?"

Exactly 1.2 seconds after he asked the question, I responded in a normal voice, "It would appear we are in some kind of tunnel that arrived here like most of other the other things on this planet; via wormhole. It could be an item from the future. Based on the smell, probably a waste disposal unit. And judging on how well the walls illuminated, I would have to say it's some kind of crude type of concrete with metal reinforcements. How crude."

The flowered Gold Pikmin looked at me as if I had just wrote some kind of a great movie and then killed of the main character. Several moments later, Goo asked, "Are we going to go and explore now?"

I didn't even have time to respond, as Goo led us foreword down the only open path. After walking for several minutes, we see a clearing with purple goo on the ground.

"It appears to be toxic." The Pod stated in his computerized voice.

"Thanks for the update, captain obvious. Let's just walk around it." Goo stated, disappointed with the pod's assistance to the mission.

Unfortunately, this filth puddle only had enough room for a single-file line to pass on one side. I began to walk across the small land bridge, and made it almost to the end, when a toxic tentacle cracked out like a whip and stuck to one of the Golds, dragging him down into a toxic doom. Everyone looked at where the gold had been pulled down, and we all saw only a single leaf float up.

Thinking quickly, I began to throw Pikmin over to the other side as the muck creatures continued their assault, but amazingly missed every other Pikmin other than the first one it grabbed. When we reformed our group on the other side of the cesspool, we all turned, Goo and I both ready to barrage this Toxic Squid, but he does not resurface again. I can feel the tension die away. Slowly, Goo picks a small stone off of the floor and throws it in the muck. A horrid "hiss" is heard as the rock disintegrates.

I feel it's my job to end the uncomfortable silence. "Come on. We can't wait here for it to come back. We can't fight that thing." I can almost feel the sadness in the room.

"I… guess your right." Goo drones, in a miserable tone. We all walk over to a side tunnel with little slits in the walls. Halfway down this hallway, I freeze, noticing the creature before anyone else does.

"EVERYBODY DOWN!" I yell out as I fall. The others do the same, except for one Pikmin, who is hit and lights up supercharged from the effects of the Electric Dweevil, and is knocked unconscious because of his overloaded nerve systems. Goo and his death agents made mincemeat out of the creature before it had a chance to make any defensive move. As the body chunks were about to rain on the Gold Battalion, the Pod stopped the chucks in mid air and sucked them into his Infinite Storage Compartment, or ISC for short.

"What… was that?" Goo inquires in between breaths.

I regain my composure and reply, "That was an Electric Dweevil. They have the ability to send out an electric shockwave. That's odd; as they are usually docile… keep an eye out for them. Oh, and Pod,"

"Yes, Sir?"

"It appears the Golds can not be destroyed. We may be able to heal them. Take this little guy with you, but put him in a cryomold."

"Wait, what's a cryomold?" Goo asks, perked up by this news.

"It's a gel that preserves one while they are in cryosleep, and ensures they don't die. It will keep him alive, or at least until we can heal him properly, that is."

Goo looks satisfied with my answer. _Perhaps we should move on…_

"WOAH!" Goo blurts out, "How did you talk without moving your lips?"

"Interesting. It appears I have the ability to communicate telepathically… This may be useful for stealth communication." I pause for a moment, considering what this could mean. "Oh well. Let's move on."

After walking through the labyrinth-like sublevel, we finally reach the end. There lies a hole in the floor. It should (in theory) lead us to the next sublevel.

_Let's go_. I state, focusing on the whole battalion.

Goo, and the other 48 operating Golds gather around me, as we all plunge down into darkness.

Dark Dungeon, Sublevel 1 

Pikmin Grown: 0

Pikmin Lost: 1

Pikmin Remaining: 50

Author's Note

Even if you don't like the story, please review, and tell me what I'm doing wrong. I appreciate flames, too. And to my two reviewers, thanks for your support. Also, Writingcritter, Lily will show up on sublevel 2, so you don't have to ask.

Thanks,

GD


	8. Chapter 8: Dark Dungeon, Floor 2

**DISCLAIMER:** Olimar is red, Louie is blue, I don't own Pikmin, so please do not sue. 

"Speech"--_Thoughts_

Dark Dungeon, Sublevel 2 

It is amazing how stealthy forty-nine glowing Gold Pikmin can be after falling down a 200 meter drop. The sound was literally an insignificant thump against the new, mud-coated floor.

Goo and the other Golds faithfully parted a path into the darkness for me, as I had miraculously ended up in the middle of the group. The rather small circular concrete area we are located in light up instantaneously with a bold silver hue as the Gladiator's Pod illuminated itself so we could see better.

As every gold in the group immediately went behind either Goo or I, I observed the surroundings in this soup-bowel like structure.

Several varying-sized white pellet-posies lay scatted across the area, which I now notice has some luminescent fungi in one corner, and a white onion resting on a large lily pad in the center of the room. Strangely, the water has almost no literal depth, but is merely retained by the concrete flooring in this region. Interesting…

I am immediately brought to attention by a hissing sound, and glowing light-blue gas rising in the corner of the room near the glowcaps. The gas, to my relief, quickly dissipates. The Pod's ability to interrupt my train of thought, however, does not.

"Master Alpha! My sensors are detecting a high level of organic activity in the northwestern corner of the room. It appears to have originated in or near the glowing fungus!"

The attention of the whole rooms inhabitance turns to the small, shining fungi patch as we all wait for something to happen.

As if on cue, another powdery blast of shimmering dust blast into the air, as two small, simmering eye stalks pop out of the ground. Suddenly, the gleaming dirt is sent flying, as a large, mushroom shaped creature pops out of the ground. It appears to be almost identical to the smaller glowcaps around it, but it has a wider "stem', has twin eyestalks on top, and has two small, bulborb-sized legs attached to the bottom. Goo and I exchange a look, and I telepathically alert the whole team to get behind their captain. I focus only one message to Goo, however;

_Attack the Glowstool._

Moving excruciatingly fast, we all dash as one unit towards the Glowstool, and spilt into two small groups as we attack it. The radiant light they emit appears to be a nuisance to the creature, as it lets out a horrid noise as the Pikmin barrage it from all sides, and amazingly flip it over completely as it tries to flee, knowing it is outmatched. I look as the Pikmin loyally smash their flowers into the beast's flesh, causing the turquoise dust to blast out in every direction. Goo throws the last of the Pikmin on the creature, and jumps on as well.

It hasn't been 3 seconds since the beast toppled over, and it shakes the Pikmin off, despite their iron-strong grip.

Then, it all fell apart.

As several of the Pikmin got to their feet immediately, perhaps because of their location when they were shaken off, they had the opportunity to attack the Glowstool. Unfortunately, the Glowstool countered their advance with a spurt of spores. The Golds close enough to the beast to be caught in the turquoise fog drew one last breath, and then fell to the ground, motionless.

Goo and the remaining Golds just stared in shocked. Suddenly, as if their fallen comrades had been just injected with adrenal stimulants, the Pikmin sprung back up, but with a neon Glowcap color replacing their usual gold, and a mushroom replacing their various leaves, buds, and flowers.

Instantaneously after that, however, a most peculiar thing happened; the newly discovered Glowmin attacked the creature behind them.

As this all went on, Goo, the other Gold Pikmin, and I just stared, as the Glowmin bashed the mushroom-capped beast before them, and killed it several seconds later, before returning to the group.

We watched the Glowstool flip over like it did before, but this time, it's lower body sink into its "head", and a single red apparition float away

from it's corpse. Finally, with a single command, ignoring the "ghost"

Goo and I lead the mixed troops (now carrying the Glowstool's corpse) over to the White Onion. I turned to Goo and simply stated, 'Ready?" Goo nodded, and began two count.

"One…" Goo uncertainly speaks slowly, as though disciplining a small child.

"Two…" Goo states somewhat hastily. I squeeze both of my thumbs, in preparation, and open my right hand.

"Three!" Goo nearly shouts, and our hands shoot foreword.

Ironically, Goo and I reached out simultaneously, and touched the large organic machine at the same instant. We watched as it "hovered" out of the ground, and ejected two small White seeds; one strangely with two "stems" and one with the usual one.

The "legs" of the onion hit the ground as the same time as the seeds, and a faint white light emerges out of the bottom of the organic "ship".

Without warning, the Pikmin eagerly waiting behind us waltz up to the White Onion, (carcass in tow) intending to grow more Pikmin before

I stop them.

"Why did you stop them?" Goo questions, suspecting an anterior motive.

"Simple." I respond, easing his doubts, "If we let them grow more Pikmin, we won't know who the first Pikmin born are."

"Oh…" Goo replies, his unknown theory shattered.

During our conversation, the two "newborn" White Pikmin have already grown to flower stage, which, disturbingly, is pink. I casually walk over to the double-stemmed Pikmin and, grabbing a stem in each hand, pull the Pikmin up, flipping it over my head. I turn to see the new White Leader, and I am astonished by its size.

The White Pikmin before me is strangely considerably shorter than Goo and his Golds who have long-since abandoned the carcass in order to stand in a ring around the White Onion, which, along with the White Pikmin that inhabit it, has Pink colored flower that presumably is used for photosynthesis. Along with a Pink flower, the Pikmin that stands before me also has almond-shaped red eyes. While calculating the possible causes for this phenomena, I hear the White say something that sounds like an adverse bunch of growls. Upon hearing this, all the Pikmin around me, including Goo, step back, breaking the focus the group had with several shrieks of terror. I, however, stand my ground, and pose a simple question to the newbie;

"What does that mean?"

And, not to my surprise, the small being in front of me responds, in a feminine voice;

"It means, 'my name is Lily' in Bulborb."

_**To be continued…**_

_**Author's Note:**_

Another rare update… but don't worry, they will start coming more frequently. Sorry for my speed. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

To **SSub**: Aloes will appear within the next 3 updates. Thanks for the review!

To **A thousand interests**: Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it.

To **Writingcritter**: There's the intro for Lily. Tell me what you think. Also, I will explain the other White in chapter 9, so please wait.

To** some dude**: I'm sorry you didn't like it. Why don't you enjoy it so far? Have you read past chapter 1?


	9. Chapter 9: Dark Dungeon, Floor 2, Pt 2

Dark Dungeon, Sublevel 2, Part 2

"Nice to meet you, Lily. I'm Alpha, and the Gold Pikmin standing beside me is named Goo. We come in peace." I replied, in my regular, nonchalant manor.

Goo, and the rest of the company just stared, in blank curiosity. I'm not really surprised; Goo and the others had never actually seen another color Pikmin, especially a female. I was expecting their reactions would be… odd.

Meanwhile, Lily didn't seem entirely convinced.

"You come in peace, eh? Then why is there a corpse behind you?" she questioned, intrigued.

"Self-defense of my mission." I countered, counting on Lily making an inquiry.

"What mission?" Lily queried, just as I planned.

I then spent four minutes and forty-two elaborating on how I had become stranded, how my ship had been damaged, and how I planned to build an empire on the planet we were on, that I had named X. Goo finally spoke up, his attention gained when I finally revealed my purpose here.

"Wait… you're only here because you masters just… told you to come here?" he inquired, odiously confused.

"No… I'm here because I had to randomly leave, and I showed up here by accident. _Then_ my masters told me to stay." I corrected. But before we could get any further into the conversation, I remembered the other seedling, and walked towards it.

Goo and Lily, seeing this as a good time to follow me, evidently influenced by my tales of the Forerunners, came and separated to each side of me, forming a triangle with one of us as each point. I then reached out and yanked the other White Pikmin out of the ground.

The other White Pikmin simply stood there after being plucked. Lily decided to intervene, and, after a series of squeak noises, got the new White to talk.

"My name is Lewot." The newly named Lewot responded lackadaisically, "Whom might you be, and how does it concern me?"

Deciding to be a little more productive, I choose to test Goo and Lily's information-distributing skills.

"Answer Lewot's soon-to-come flood of questions as I harvested to make more Whites." I tell them as I leave. I can hear their conversation begin as I order the surrounding Pikmin with to collect everything in this sublevel.

Slowly, I make my way to the back of the room, and take some time to ponder my own questions. Like, what do my masters see we will obtain with this planet under their control, and how they expect these carrot beasts to make a formidable army? Perhaps only time will tell, as my three commanders approach me.

"Lewot is up to date," Goo informs me, with gusto, "And the other Pikmin have harvested enough for a small army of Whites."

"Excellent." I reply, and turn towards the White onion. I can see many stalks swaying in the air, most of them in different stages development. I start towards the White Onion, and Lewot, Lily, and Goo follow me. When we reach it, I walk over to a White, and pull it out of the ground. The Pikmin commanders start to do the same, and we get into a rhythmic pattern, uprooting the new troops.

Several moments later, our army is fully plucked, giving us an immense total of eighty-six Pikmin, minus one that is being healed in the Pod. Suddenly, a new query arrives in my mind.

"Pod!" I snap, breaking the tension that arrived in my silence.

"Yes, Master Alpha?" The Pod responds.

"What is our current Pikmin count, and what are the abilities of our new allies?" I demand.

The Pod begins to drone, "Forty-two operating Gold Pikmin, thirty-five operating White Pikmin, and seven Glowmin. Also, for your second request, I'll need a blood sample."

At this, Lewot pushed Lily towards the Pod. This caused a robotic arm, with a syringe at the bottom to extended out of the craft. Before Lily could make any type of resistance, however, the needle shot foreword into her stomach, and then retracted, disappearing into the bottom of the ship. Lily returned to our ranks, and made an odd noise directed at her fellow captain, presumably a threat in a foreign language. Silence ensued as we waited for the Pod's conclusion.

After several seconds, he spoke.

"I have determined this blood to be highly poisonous, and, thanks to my DNA identifier, I have physical information too. These White Pikmin should be much faster than other Pikmin, and they have excellent vision, allowing them to pick up on objects located deep underground."

"This sounds like they would be useful for recognizance operations." I mention. At this, Lewot steps foreword.

"I could do that without ruining anything," he informs us. "I can work as a spy, and do… erm… spy things."

"That could be very helpful…" I slowly state, "But you'll need some type of camouflage, as White is too noticeable."

The Pod interrupts, "Perhaps a camouflage towel could work?"

"Maybe…" Goo dazedly says, "but wouldn't he have to lug it around all the time?"

"No," Lily points out, "He could wear it like a cape."

Yeah." Lewot agrees, "I'll take the towel."

"Alright. Pod, bring our stealth leader his camo-towel." I command, trying to remain serious.

A moment later, Lewot is tying the towel around his neck, and I propose a new move, instead of sitting in the cave, conferencing. "I suggest we head backwards out of this cave, as I noticed a large amount of metal on the above sublevel in a poison puddle. One of my ship parts could be there."

Goo ponders over this. "Alright… but how can we get out, if the hole is on the ceiling?"

"Simple." I answer. "All of the Golds and Glowmin can come with me in the Pod, while the Whites can use their Onion."

"Alright." Lily agrees, "All whites, get in the Onion!"

"Yeah, and don't mess with anything." Lewot adds. Seemingly obeying Lewot, yet ignoring Lily, the Whites obey, and climb up the long leg sticks to get inside. Goo and I walk with the remaining Golds towards the Pod, where we wait until all off our Pikmin are inside. Finally, we step into the light, and are beamed inside.

Inside the Gladiator's front warehouse is where I feel the most at home. Even though the whole area is the size of my head in "real life", inside the area inside is about the size of a colossal sports arena. In the center, there is a large storage section. Surrounding that, I have medical centers, agricultural rooms, battle simulators, and rest rooms. If I needed too, I could host a safe amount of 420 creatures inside for an almost infinite t of time. The area is also fairly easy to get around in, even though everyone in my present company is staying in the storage section.

Goo, overwhelmed by the technology, just looks around, dumbfounded. I need to keep him focused.

"Goo!" I snap, gaining the Gold's attention. " Make yourself at home , and explore a bit, as we will be at our destination in an hour or two."

"What?" Goo inquiries, odiously intrigued.

"Well, for some strange reason, time goes sixty times slower than normal when you are in Infinite Storage Spaces. No one knows why."

"Wow…" Goo says distantly, "Can you give me a tour?"

"Of course," I reply casually, "Right this way…"

Author's Note

Well? What did you think? Review, and let me know!

Ghost Duck


	10. Chapter 10: Dark Dungeon, Floor 1, Pt 2

Dark Dungeon, Sublevel 1, Part 2

About forty-two minutes after Goo asked for his tour, we were almost finished, and the ship had landed on the above sublevel. Before we could exit the Gladiator, however, something then caught Goo's eye, and he left my side for the medical room door.

"What room is this?" he inquired, in a distant fashion.

"The medical laboratory, where one of your colleagues is being healed." I returned, "Would you like to see the inside?"

In response to my query, Goo took a step through the door. As I walked in, he was already next to the injured gold's bed.

Goo was totally silent, then inquired, "When will he heal?"

As if on que, the Pikmin on the medical bed leaned up, got out of the medical bed, walked to the teleporter, and was beamed out of the ship. Apparently, we were already at our destination. Goo merely stood in the same spot, perplexed at this strange occurrence, and ignored the fact that we had landed.

"Does that answer your question?" I asked in response as I walked to the exit, as the gold Pikmin previously had. Goo, still absorbed in what had just happened, ignored me and headed past me into the luminescent green gateway that was the teleporter. We entered simultaneously, and discover that Lily, Lewot, and the other thirty-five Whites were out of their Onion already. The Gold we saw earlier was also out in the field.

I walked to the front of the group of Whites as Goo yells out,

"Forty-two!" under the Pod, summon his Gold Pikmin. The two colors gather before me, and I decide to "commemorate" our first team battle with a speech.

"This beast must be destroyed to ensure the independence and growth of Pikmin kind." I pause for dramatic effect, and to let the meaning of my speech sink in. "Although new to this planet, we can crush any opposing force. For ourselves… for our fallen comrades… and for our honor... we must win this first battle on the long path to victory. Fight hard, Pikmin, and our victory is assured." Done with my speech, I wait for a comment from one of my captains.

"Erm, okay." Lewot agreed pointlessly. "We can do that…"

Ignoring the towel-wearer's comment, I follow up on my speech with a battle plan. "Lily and Lewot, you two are to find a way to lure this poisonous beast out of its lair, so Goo an I can finish it off with his Golds."

"How do you propose we do that?" Lily inquired, speaking for this first time on this sublevel.

" Lewot could be used as bait…" Goo supplied, attracted by the idea.

"I probably wouldn't mind," Lewot suggested, "After all, it's not very hard to screw up…"

Lily let out a small chuckle. "Alright, it's settled. Lewot will lure the thing towards our armies, and Goo, Alpha and I will eliminate it.

After several minutes of fine-tuning the plan, everyone was in his or her positions. Lewot began walking towards the contaminated puddle, and the beast burst from beneath the surface as he reached the side, sending toxic sludge in all directions. Lewot then began to walk towards us in his usual, nonchalant manor. The Sludge Serpent flailed out it's tentacles towards him, desperately trying to net it's possible dinner, and missed again and again and again.

Eventually, the large, medusa-like snake sent it's largest, primary tentacle lashing out towards the towel-wearing Pikmin. Lewot then, in a sudden and unexpected move, flipped backwards onto the beast, and began to smack the creature with his stem. I made my signal, and Goo and Lily charged at the slippery "arm" from both sides as I charged towards the head. We began to cover the beast with Pikmin, and after a few moments of pummeling, the mouth-like formation at the front opened up, revealing an elongated uvula structure. With a bold move, I led my Pikmin up to the large uvula, and tossed them on to it quickly and precisely. I then sensed a bold psychic ripple, and called my Pikmin back just in the nick of time.

Unfortunately, I heard a squealing, and I saw, to my horror, one of the Whites hanging by its bud out of the creature's closed mouth. In a fit of desperation, however, the Pikmin had somehow torn part of it's bud off and only half of it remained as it fell to the floor. The Pikmin, badly mangled, stood up, walked towards the White Onion, and fell to the ground before reaching the light below it, near death from the injuries sustained in combat. Angrily, I turned, preparing myself for a physical battle with the beast. To all of our amazement, though, the large beast was suffering a far worse punishment than we could have delivered.

Wailing in pain, I saw dots of blood dripping from the creature's form. One of the mandibles had popped off like a balloon, and the meat inside was revealed. Firework-like explosions shook the Sludge Serpent's form, and the small combustion was followed by a large, resonating boom that shook the sublevel, cracking the ground, and draining the small lake it lived in, revealing an amazing jackpot.

In the Serpent's nest, we saw six metallic items and a pearl. Turning my eyes away from the soon-to-be-ours- treasure, I see the injured Pikmin. I walk over to it and gingerly pick it up. Several drops of deep lavender blood drip from the wound as I carry the White Pikmin to the light under it's Onion. As I suspected, the onion lifts the Pikmin up slowly, and sucks it inside. Solemnly, I turn to leave, and see my Pikmin army salvaging the items from the bottom of the pit as the Gladiator's Pod keeps trying to stop them.

"What's the problem, Pod?" I ask, as I see Lily escorting a team of Whites carrying the pearl to the Onion.

"This area is geological-" The Pod starts with, but he is cut off by a quick call becoming me to "come look at this" coming from the white Onion, and as I turn, I see fifty Pikmin stalks, freshly planted. I dash over, and meet Goo and Lewot there. The Pikmin begin to gather around us, also intrigued.

"It would appear that those types of pearls can produce fifty Pikmin." I comment, as Lewot fixes his cape. "We should keep ours eyes out for more. "

Not as impressed by this news as they originally were, Goo and Lewot begin to pick the leaf Pikmin that had just recently been planted, and had started growing into bud form already. Maybe it has something to do with the underground soil, but I should probably get back on task.

"Now, Pod," I start as the Pikmin head off to accumulate more of the treasures. "What were you going to say?"

I'm certain that if my ship could have sighed, it would. The Pod replied with, "I have detected a strong geological current running through this area, and I was going to suggest that we evacuate as soon as possible, in the event of an emergency."

Knowing that the pod was almost always correct, I decide to take it's advice, and order an evacuation.

"Goo, Lewot, Lily, prepare for an immediate evacuation." I command, as the second last of the "treasures" is sucked up into the pod.

Goo, who was escorting the final metal object towards the Pod, now found the need to comment.

"An emergency?" Goo asked skeptically. "What could possibly go wrong down here?" He inquired. Simultaneously however, a large vibration was felt, and a giant crack was heard as the ceiling began to fragment and fall to the ground.

"That." Lily responded coldly, as she and Lewot begin to escort their idle whites to the Onion. Goo looked at me, shrugged as his "treasure" was sucked aboard, and sent the whites to their Onion as a colossal bolder fell from the ceiling, and broke a hole in the center of the pit where the Sludge Serpents home use to be.

As the last of the Golds were sucked aboard, including Goo, I teleported in myself to escape the cave. The Gladiator attached itself to the top White Onion, and we were both simultaneously teleported out of the collapsing cave by the Gladiator's body outside the cave.

To be continued… 


	11. Chapter 11: Double A

It had not been over forty-two seconds since we landed outside of the cave, when one of my captains began to complain.

"I can't believe we destroyed an entire cave!" Lilly cried, apparently disturbed by the destruction of the Dark Dungeon.

"Erm, who cares?" Lewot commented, "It's not like anyone important was wounded."

"Other than the creatures that lived in the cave!" Lily countered, apparently annoyed by the other White's resilience.

"That were trying to kill us." Goo added, quelling the new argument. A short silence ensued, as none of the Pikmin knew what to say. Deciding to take control of the situation, I interrupt this "fascinating" conversation.

"We really should just drop the whole topic, and move on." I provide, "Besides, we need to set up a base camp to start out from tomorrow, as we can't just land in any random area."

"Why not?" Goo questioned.

"Because we may land in an enemy nesting ground, or on a sinkhole." I inform him. "Either one will get us all killed, and we need to set up a command post anyway. Let's move, before it gets too dark." Thankfully, no protest follows this brief explanation. I start again, this time with instructions. "First off, we don't need our entire Pikmin army with us on a reconnaissance mission. Put them in the onion, so we will be free to explore without attracting attention to ourselves."

Lewot and Goo immediately obey, but Lily hesitates, and asks me, "What about the Glowmin? Should we put them in our onions?"

Thinking for a moment, I choose my words carefully, and reply, "The Glowmin may be absorbed by the Onion, and made into seeds. I'm afraid we have no choice but to let them go, Lily." Even without a moth, nose, or face, in the normal sense, I can still sense her sadness.

"Can we at least let them stay in the landing zone, so we can't risk losing them out there?" she quires, gesturing towards the gloomy forest near the landing zone.

To ease her mind, I tell the white Pikmin, "Yes, we can leave them here." I could feel the improvement in lily's mood immediately, just as Goo and Lewot approach, after depositing the gold and white Pikmin.

"When are we leaving?" Goo questions, in a voice that sounds almost childish.

With an amused chuckle, I reply, "Right now." Checking my chronometer, I inform them, "We haven't any time to spare. Let's move it." Strolling past the Gladiator and out of the landing zone, we come to the perimeter of the massive, ominous woods. Prior to stepping foot on the new soil, I sense an undersized wave of rolling fear in my Pikmin commanders, growing with each passing minute. "I've decided that this heavily wooded area shall be known as the Alarming Acres," I comment, with a sly look on my face, "because of your obvious paranoia and terror."

Disturbed by this comment, Goo yells out, "I am not!" denying his fear. At this, Lewot snickers, and adds in,

"Of course you're not scared." Goo, perplexed by this statement, thinks for a little while, and finally replies back, "You're wrong, Lewot. I'm not afraid of a few tre-"

Then, interrupting him mid sentence, Lily, who has been almost been quite the entire way, screams out, "BOO!" Goo, who had his back turned, flinches, and Lewot chortles at his response. Lily laughs at Goo for a second, and sighs.

"I can't believe it took you so long to figure out what Lewot said." Lily criticized jokingly.

"I couldn't tell he was being sarcastic." He admits, a little put down.

Shaking my head, I announce, "We're at the first possible landing zone, so watch your step."

"Trust me, we'll be fi-" Lewot starts, before tripping.

After he is back on his feet, I continue, "As I was saying, I'm going to survey the land. You three keep an eye out. If anything bad happens, alert me immediately.

"Alright." The trio answer simultaneously. Nodding, I walk foreword, slowly, my gloved right hand outstretched and pointed at the ground. About halfway across the dirt circle, I hear Lily cry out in amazement, "Alpha, we found something!" Turning towards her, approximately eighty degrees to my left, I break into a dash.

Skidding to a halt next to the double-stemmed Pikmin, she points up, and, looking about five sixths of the way up (two-hundred and eighty feet), I see a knothole in the tree, with an eerie lime-green glow emanating from it. At that precise moment, Lewot, who just arrived with Goo, comments, "So . . . we're climbing trees now?"

Nodding, I reply, "I am. When I get there, I'll let down my energy hook, and, I'll pull you up."

"What if it gets dark?" Lily queries intelligently.

"Then I'll either activate our homing beacon and the Gladiator will come pick us up here, or we'll come back tomorrow, since my scanner indicates the ground is safe to land on." I confidently reply.

"Well, what if it isn't here tomorrow?" Goo requests, seeing a potential problem.

"Then we better get started." Lewot coldly replies for me.

"Exactly." I comment, "Keep an eye open for any potential adversaries, and tug on the energy cord when you want me to pull you up." After hearing their acknowledgement, I start off, and latch myself to the tree, remembering my training on Installation 04. Higher and higher I scale, bark stripped from the massive plant plummeting to the forest floor below me, and finally, my left hand reaches the lower right-hand side of the lip of the knothole.

With the key to climbing in mind, I shimmy over to the front of the knothole, and pull myself up with a great leap. For a moment, I am suspended in mid air, two-hundred and eighty feet above the ground. And then, by forcing my body foreword, I land in a roll, and come up standing face to face with a Green Onion. Glancing around the inside of the tree room, I see that the Green Onion shouldn't be able to fit through the knothole if it has it's tripod-like legs fully extended. This could prove to be quite difficult, but my Pikmin take priority over this minor problem. With a shot spin, I see the top and upper canopy of the forest as through a window, and see that it is excruciatingly close to sunset. Walking over to the ledge, I reach back into my life-support storage pack, and pull out the energy hook. Aiming straight down at the speck like Pikmin Commanders, I fire, and I can see each of the grab the rope. With a soft signal tug from below, I hit the retract button, and the trio shoot up the colossal oak.

Just as the energy hook snaps back into the handle, I step back further into the tree, to prevent a dizzy captain from accidentally falling to their doom. In actuality though, the three Pikmin, not nauseous in the slightest, just hop off of the claw like appendage at the end of the hook. Tucking the hook safely inside of my pack I turn, and solemnly tell the others, "On three."

"One…" Lily starts, her tone intently focused.

"Two…" Goo continues, his eyes locked on the Onion

"Three!" I finish, and, simultaneously, our hands shoot foreword, onto the Green Onion.

Author's Note---

Sorry for not updating for so long, but I've just had do deal with a lot of holiday stuff, and my younger brother. Anyway, I assure you, chapter twelve is in the makings. To those who are still reviewing, thank you. It means a lot.

GD


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